Dearly
beloved,
My greatest daily concern is that I don’t want to realize in
heaven (Matt.7:21/25:11-13), and learn in the world to come (Rev. 22-2-3), what
God has made provision for in this day. Painfully, this would be the case for
any believer who isn’t awake unto the daily revelations of righteousness (1Cor.
15:34/Rom. 1:17
Access
to God’s domain of life (Jn. 7:34/12:26/14:3/1Jn. 1:3), which remains
inaccessible to glorious angels like Gabriel or Michael can’t be negotiated.
God’s terms remains that we LEAVE/MOVE (Heb. 6:1-2) from CALLING HIM
LORD (which includes preaching, fasting, giving, evangelism, faith as
corporately known today) to KNOWING HIS WILL (which starts after the
eyes of our heart has been restored, we wait on the EPISTLES, so we can
subsequently relate with the PARABLES OF JESUS) – Lk. 4:18e
II.
Blessed are those who would overcome the
curse (the former things/limitations highlighted
in Rev. 21:4/22:3) that made Job, Solomon, Isaiah & Apostle James to compare
man with trees, animals and grasses respectively. (Job 14:7-10/Eccl. 3:18-19/Isa.
40:6/Jam. 1:10).
III.
Blessed are those who in the days ahead
would only be comparable with Christ (1Jn. 3:2/Rev. 14:1/21:23)
Graceful
Reading!
Non-Negotiable
Counsels of God's Kingdom - Part 14
Scriptural
reading: Matt. 25:1-13/14-30
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and
went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in
their vessels with their lamps.
All the
parables of the Lord were not mere stories but realities in the spirit. In the parable of the ten
virgins for instance,
virginity refers to the spirit of man that was
begotten through the operation of God’s faith (Col. 2:12b). When Adam sinned,
all died (Rom. 5:19/Eph. 2:1); the spirit of man became the child of Satan (Jn.
8:44),
but at new birth a new spirit is born (2Cor. 5:17). That spirit
is a virgin because it has been raised with the same power that
raised up the Lord Jesus and attained resurrection status.
There are two kinds of virgins according to this parable; the wise and the foolish and this is a prototype of
the present day church. There
are wise virgins (believers) and there are foolish virgins (believers). The
wisdom of the spirit as communicated by the Lord has nothing to do with mental
intelligence; it is determined by what we do with the word of the kingdom that
comes to us. This is the acid test to know those who are wise
and those who are foolish.
The coming of the
Bridegroom (Christ) is the coming of the
kingdom because He is the kingdom. He is called the Bridegroom because He knows
how to groom the bride and make her fit for the kingdom. He has utensils,
things, words and goods that He uses to prepare the bride for entrance. These ten virgins knew that the purpose of their being
saved was to meet the Bridegroom.
They knew this because the word of the kingdom was being communicated to them for their preparation.
Matt. 25:6
And at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him
Have you ever asked why the Lord likes coming at night? He testifies of in the epistles to the churches (1 Thess. 5:2,1Pet. 3:10), and mentioned it repeatedly in the book of
Revelation
(Rev.16:15/3:3). Night is when men are
asleep. Such times are unguarded ‘hours’ when the heart is
overcharged with surfeiting, men are drunken with the deception of riches and overtaken
with worries (Luke 21:34). This drunkenness
happens at night when the revelation of Christ isn’t heeded, hence men fall
asleep. When revelation is not heeded, there will be darkness, and when there
is darkness (night), men will sleep (1Thess.
5:7 Isa. 60:2, Rom. 5:20)
Lk.
21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and so that day come upon
you unawares.
The ten virgins knew that the Bridegroom’s coming would
be in the night, but they did not know the exact time. He comes when men are asleep because He is a very
costly being. Those that will lay hold on Him must be found worthy of Him. He
will not come according to the timing of man.
Some believers will be given eye salve to discern the
advancement of darkness upon the earth and they will stay awake so that the day
will not suddenly come upon them. These are the children of light (Eph. 5:8) that have been delivered
from darkness through the revelation of Christ (1Thes.5:5-6/Acts 26:18). Beloved, there is need for us to understand that the Lord is close even as the earth is gradually
coming into the night season.
Some of the virgins took oil with their lamps, but some did not (Matt. 25:3-4).
The
lamp signifies the
soul. That is what the Psalmist calls ‘my darkness’ which he prayed that the Lord
would enlighten (Ps. 18:28). The oil in the lamp is the amount of
walk that has been generated by the activities of the holy unction (1Jn. 2:22&27).
Every walk of obedience in the spirit
grants you oil to continue in the
son (1Jn. 2:24). The oil is the supply of grace for further walk and it lubricates
our feet to reduce friction. The reason for the oil is that our walk in the spirit is a walk against the
course of this world (Eph. 2:2). We need measurements of oil to generate a walk that is
contrary to the walk of mere men.
Oil here refers to the
oil of gladness which our Lord was
anointed with (Ps. 45:7/Heb. 1:9). You cannot gain entrance into the kingdom
without the
oil of gladness. THE MORE WE WALK IN
OBEDIENCE, THE MORE OIL WE ACCESS FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM. Christ is called the
Anointed One because He is the one who has been anointed with that oil of
gladness which consecrated Him as High priest forever. Satan hates that oil and fights it; that is why
he sent the spirit of the antichrist (1Jn. 2:18). The oil of gladness
is not the anointing to do
miracles (Matt. 10:6-8) but for obedience
(Rom. 1:5b/16:26d/Heb. 5:9b) and living (Heb. 12:9d). These are two
different of anointing.
The oil of gladness is not poured on a soul except such has learnt to
love righteousness and hate iniquity by obeying to the Anointed one. You may
have anointing to heal the sick and raise the dead and yet you might not have
that which would enable you disobey fallen spirits because
it is a costly oil and this is what the church needs at this hour of gross darkness. The
light we use at present cannot handle the darkness that is upon the earth now. The church is stuck
because darkness has mutated. The church needs the light that saves (Ps. 27:1),
the light of eternal life (Jn. 1:9a)
The ten virgins
were waiting for the Bridegroom and during
the period of waiting, they expended oil. The most difficult thing for man is to wait without the knowledge of
how long the waiting process would last. Waiting
is stressful for the flesh and flesh does not like it; but that is God’s way. He employs the process of waiting to trim
the carnal nature so that when He comes, there is no flesh remaining. God will
delay things and see who will keep their flesh or let go of their flesh. That is the time of selection. It is silently ongoing
presently. When God is at work, you cannot really tell, but some are found wise
by their understanding of the season while others are found foolish.
Those who were wise were the ones who were walking as they were hearing (the word of the kingdom). That walk was their extra oil which
kept their lamps burning until the twelfth hour when the
bridegroom came. Those hours of waiting and walking were crucial seasons in the spirit that prepares us for the ultimate arrival of the bridegroom. At the time when the Bridegroom arrived, the lamps of
the five foolish virgins had gone out because they did not have enough oil to
last while
the Bridegroom tarried. They could not generate a walk
that could keep the lamp burning, so their light went out. It is as we obey the things we hear that we buy oil for
our feet. We should not just hear the word; we have to do something
with what we are hearing (Jam. 1:22)
There was a cry
at midnight,
go
ye and meet the Bridegroom. Midnight
is a meeting point between two days – night and morning. Midnight is the period
when darkness begins to lose its strength, light gradually breaks out and God
separates light from darkness. At midnight it looks as if it is the darkest time, but it is actually the breaking of
another day. At the coming of
the Bridegroom, all ten virgins arose and trimmed their lamps (Matt. 25:7). The lamps of those who were
not wise went out
The trimming and burning of their lamps was an indication that their souls were awake unto righteousness, but to reveal that the passion,
desire and love of the foolish virgins had expired, their lamps went out before the bridegroom’s appearance. Because
Iniquity hasn’t been overcome, the love of many would wax cold (Matt. 24:12, Rev. 3:16)
The period of darkness is a time when everything is shutdown
and the weather is cold. It is like the winter period when all the trees are shedding
their leaves. It is very easy to sleep at such time.
When a soul
sleeps, he gives up on God. Many have given up on God and coming to
church has become a mere routine.
Their fire has gone out, their oil has dried up,
their love has waxed cold and they have lost their passion.
THE CONTINUOUS REVELATION OF CHRIST (1PET. 1:13) IS
THE ONLY THING THAT CAN HELP US TO STAY AWAKE. That is why God
keeps speaking to us. He
speaks of His anointed life and when we hear Him, we are awakened and we live. What comes out of His
mouth is His anointed life and that is the oil of gladness. The
virgins were able to collect oil in their lamps through
the
visitations of many voices. But there was one final voice
that they were all waiting for
after previous voices had come. If the oil received is not translated to a walk, we will
not be able to receive the last voice.
The foolish
virgins were seekers but not
diligent seekers (Heb. 11:6).
Their oil expired just when entrance was about being
administered (2Pet. 1:11). They began to ask,
Give us of your oil for our lamps have gone out, but the wise ones answered
them, no lest there is not enough for us
and for you, go to them that sell and buy (Matt. 25:8-9). They knew where oil was being sold but they did not take enough. The
foolish virgins did not give full attention and diligence to what they were hearing so they were not able
to get much oil out of the words that were being spoken to them.
THOSE WHO REALLY
FIND GOD ARE NOT JUST THOSE WHO ARE SEEK
HIM BUT THOSE WHO ARE DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM (Heb. 11:6). There are seekers
and there are diligent seekers. Some virgins are wise – they are putting extra.
It is good to seek, but the Lord’s requirement is diligent seeking. Diligent seeking
(going the extra mile) is a principle in the kingdom. The world stole it but was originally propagated
and enacted by Jesus Christ through His earthly walk (Matt.5:40-45).
The foolish ones went out
to buy oil but at a time when the oil seller was no longer available because there is a time and
season for everything (Eccl. 3:1). There
are seasons when oil will be available and there are seasons when oil will be
scarce. You must be very sensitive of these seasons. There is a corporate
season that comes upon us and there are also seasons that come upon us individually.
There are times you would seek Him but
He will not be found (Isa. 55:6. There
are specific seasons He makes Himself known. When He reveals Himself, take advantage of it and quickly get
enough oil from Him, because the time will come when you will seek
Him, even with tears, but you will not find
Him (Heb.12:17).
Seasons are important. Even in your individual life, there are times
the anointing will be so strong without much effort in prayer or study. When such season comes upon you, don’t take it for
granted, quickly take advantage of it. If you dont,
another season will not come. We can be so used
to the things of God and miss God. Sometimes the reason why we do not find the Lord quickly is not that He
is far; but because we did not take advantage of previous seasons when He came knocking. The foolish virgins did not take advantage of the seasons
that came, but those
who understood the importance of the anointed life quickly entered
the kingdom before the ones that went to buy oil came.
The wise virgins
entered and the foolish ones came and began to knock saying, open to us. For them to have called Him Lord means they were Christians;
they called Him Lord but Jesus said It is
not all that call Me
Lord, Lord that shall ENTER THE KINGDOM but they that DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER (Matt.7:21, 25:11-13).
The second parable
was about a man who took a journey to a far country and gave talents. To one,
he gave five, to another, he gave two, and to the last one, he gave one and
divided his goods. It is the same thing (Matt.
25:14-30). The goods of God which
are His wealth are the words of the kingdom. That word is anointed; it has
the oil of gladness inside.
There is an initial
oil that comes upon us when we gather for meetings and Jesus speaks to us,
and then there is another you get in your closet. WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WITH THE OIL YOU GET IN A MEETING IS TO ENTER YOUR CLOSET AND TRADE WITH IT. Your closet is the
inward tabernacle where you commune with God, not necessarily pray. YOU TRADE WITH THE OIL BY OBEYING INSTRUCTIONS
YOU RECEIVE IN YOUR CLOSET AND THIS INVOLVES EXCHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH SUCH INSTRUCTION.
That is how you trade out your flesh to live the anointed life.
God gave them talents according to their several abilities. Sometimes
we look at someone and say, How I wish I had his anointing or I were like
him. I want you to know that the one that was given two talents and traded
with it also entered the joy of the Lord (i.e. the kingdom). Likewise, the one that had five and traded with it entered the joy of
the Lord. If all what God wants you to do is to sweep one corner of the church
and you do it faithfully, He will reward you the same way He will
reward someone who pastors a one million member church. What God rewards is faithfulness. If God tells you to do something and you
leave it to do another thing, you will not get any reward for it. The Bible
says, Obedience is better than sacrifice.
The reason why we cannot obey God is because of the flesh life; it is not
easy to trade it off (to let it go), but the kingdom
of God demands diligence (Matt. 13:34).
The goods God
gave them was the word of the kingdom.
Such
is His wealth and His testimony. The
oil of gladness is his treasured possession. That testimony is His anointed life that cannot be stained
What are the goods
being delivered to you and how are you trading with them (Matt. 25:24-30)? When God places demands our flesh,
we raise questions like this unprofitable
servant did. Every time we come to meetings or hear the Lord speak
to us through different mediums, goods are being delivered
to us. These goods are what make God good. God is not just good, He also has
many goods. When He gives such goods to us, how do we trade with them? We are
supposed to trade our carnal life with them in order to inherit eternal life.
Bless You!
Pst. Danladi Hassan
The Essence of the Anointed Life
VGC Lively Stones Bi-monthly Fellowship
